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The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers in the ongoing government shutdown.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.

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A spokesperson for the budget office said the reductions are “substantial” but did not offer more immediate details.

Affected agencies include the departments of Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services, as

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